


Tattooed Superman

by GleekPlusDirectioner



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, innocent!niall, just as a warning, punk!liam, school shooting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-06 19:08:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3145316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GleekPlusDirectioner/pseuds/GleekPlusDirectioner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When an intruder is discovered in their school, the first thing on Liam's mind is the safety of his best friend. This may or may not have something to do with the crush he's been harbouring for a while now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tattooed Superman

**Author's Note:**

> I was prompted this on Tumblr anonymously

The sound tore through the silence in Liam's classroom; the first of many. But Liam knew from the first one what that sound was.

That was a gun.

Screams filled the air, students scrambling about in panic. Liam rushed out into the corridor, searching through the mass of students before digging his phone out of his pocket and making a call.

"Liam?" a voice whimpered through the phone.

"Niall, where are you?" Liam asked quickly.

"S-science lab," Niall stammered. "L-Li, I'm scared."

"Hang in there, I'm coming to find you," Liam assured him, shoving through the panicking swarm and running to the labs. "Are you okay?"

Niall took a deep breath. "Yeah. I'll be better when you get here, though."

"I'm almost there. See you soon." Liam hung up quickly and dropped his phone is his pocket as he rounded the corner to the science corridor, but stopped dead in his tracks. At the other end of the corridor, a man he didn't know was slowly heading his way.

From an open classroom door, a look of relief caught Liam's eye. "Liam!" Niall ran towards him.

"Niall, stop!"

"Don't move," the man ordered with his gun still raised, Liam fighting his every impulse to either collapse beside Niall or punch this guy in the nose. Smirking, the man continued, "There's a good boy."

Liam watched as a police officer slowly came up behind the man. The officer suddenly grabbed the man's arm and snapped his wrist backwards, making him drop his weapon. The blur of officers and words of arrest wasn't registering properly in Liam's head.

"Liam…"

Suddenly remembering Niall, Liam dropped to his knees beside him. "Nialler?"

Tears were streaking down Niall's cheeks. "It h-hurts, Li."

"I know." Liam gently ruffled Niall's hair. "I know it does."

"Liam… am I gonna die?" Niall squeaked. "I don't wanna die, Li, I don't wanna…"

"Hey, ssh," Liam cooed, lifting Niall's head into his lap and stroking his cheeks. "You're gonna be okay, Niall."

"H-how do you kn-know?"

"I've got you, you're gonna be fine." Liam watched Niall's hand reach for the wound near his hip, but stopped him. "Don't do that," Liam whispered, clasping Niall's hand tightly in his own and bringing them to his chest. "Everything's gonna be fine, okay? Just hang in there."

Niall nodded and closed his eyes. "'M scared, Liam."

"No, no, stay awake, Niall," Liam insisted, an edge of panic in his voice. "Open your eyes."

Grumbling, Niall did as he was told.

"Talk to me, it'll keep you awake," Liam suggested. "Tell me how we first met."

Niall frowned a little. "You were there, you know already."

"Tell me anyway."

"You found me around the back of the school…"

 

_Niall had started spending his breaks at the back of the school building. Not as many people went around there, so no one really picked on him there. So he sat on his own on the grass, enjoying the sunlight._

_"Hey there, flowers."_

_Niall glanced up at the voice to find two boys smirking down at him. "Hello…"_

_"'Hello'," one of the mocked, the two of them laughing. "What's with this?" he asked, flicking the flower crown sitting on Niall's head._

_Deciding it better not to answer, Niall looked to the ground, twisting his fingers in the grass._

_"Hey, I'm talking to you, blondie." One of the boys kicked Niall's side. "Look at me when I'm talking to you."_

_"Give it a rest, guys."_

_The new voice sparked Niall's interest, lifting his eyes to connect it to a tall boy in all black. He looked punkish, with tattoos up and down his arms and a variety of piercings._

_"What's it to you, Payne?" one of the boys snarked._

_The punk gave them a look. "Give it a rest," he repeated more firmly. "Or do you need me to convince you?" He took a step towards the boys, who quickly backed away. "Beat it."_

_The two boys huffed and sulked away._

_"Thank you," Niall said quietly, nervously glancing up at his rescuer._

_"No worries," the punk shrugged. He sat beside Niall and extended his hand. "Liam."_

_Shaking the offered hand, Niall replied, "Niall Horan."_

_"You new?" Liam asked, leaning back against his hands and using his tongue to fiddle with his lip ring._

_"No… I've been here for two and a half years now," Niall said slowly._

_"Oh." Liam laughed at himself a bit. "Sorry, I'm not actually at school often."_

_"Where are you usually?" Niall found himself asking._

_"My dad owns the local pub in town, so I'm usually there. We get a lot of famous performers in," Liam shrugged. "You like Ed Sheeran?"_

_Niall nodded quickly. "Hell yes."_

_"Come 'round after school. He's playing tonight." Liam gave him a toothy smile. "I could get you backstage."_

_Niall had to fight to contain himself. "Seriously?" He paused for a moment. "Why?" he asked suspiciously._

_With a shrug, Liam replied, "I figured you don't get many people talking to you, and you seem too nice for that."_

_Finally giving Liam a smile, Niall whispered, "Thanks."_

 

"You were so excited when you met Ed," Liam chuckled, brushing Niall's hair from his forehead.

"He was really cool," Niall remembered. He suddenly looked dizzy. "Li… lightheaded…"

"Hold on, Ni," Liam whispered. He gave up resisting and pressed a kiss to Niall's forehead. "Hold on for me."

"There's another one here!"

Liam felt a sense of relief as people started rushing over to them. "People're here to help, Ni."

Paramedics began inspecting Niall's wound. "We have to get him to the hospital." They began transferring him onto a stretcher.

"No… Liam," Niall panicked, reaching for his friend. "Liam-"

"It's okay, he can come with you," the head paramedic assured him, waving Liam over. "We need to get you fixed up."

Niall was carried out of the school and into one of many ambulances, Liam sitting right beside him.

"Talk to him, keep him conscious," the paramedic beside Liam instructed quietly.

Taking Niall's hand, Liam murmured, "I need you to stay awake for me, Ni. Tell me something, like you did before."

"Tell you what?" Niall asked, flinching as a paramedic took precautionary measures with his wound.

"Anything. Tell me about when we went to the lake, yeah?"

"You'd never been there before…"

 

_Although he had been dubious at first, Liam had allowed Niall to show him the lake just outside town. The blonde had explained that he used to go here a lot with his dad and that he wanted Liam to see it, too._

_"It's pretty amazing," Liam admitted, gazing out across the water from where he was sat on the small pier. As he observed the view, he absently threaded his tongue bar in and out of his lip ring, something Niall had commented to him that he did when he was thinking._

_"Isn't it?" Niall sighed happily. He was on his stomach, head propped up on his hands, and knees bent so his feet were gently kicking in the air. "Me and Dad used to come here all the time."_

_"Why don't you anymore?" Liam asked._

_Niall stared at the water with a sad smile. "My dad died in an accident three years ago."_

_"Oh… shit, I'm sorry-"_

_"It's okay," Niall assured him, looking up and giving Liam a more genuine smile. "You didn't know. It's nice to come back here, though. I didn't want to come back alone, and until now I haven't had anyone special enough to bring with me."_

_"Aww, I'm special?" Liam asked teasingly, lightly poking Niall's side._

_"Well, I had been hoping for a boyfriend to be the first person I'd bring here, but you'll have to do," Niall smirked, teasing right back._

_"Boyfriend?"_

_Niall froze. "Uh… yeah…" He swore under his breath. "That's not how I'd been planning on coming out to you."_

_"Well, this isn't how I'd been planning on coming out to you, either, but here we are."_

_There was a moment of silence, which Niall broke by laughing. "Jeez, we're stupid."_

_"Speak for yourself; I could tell you were gay from the second I saw you."_

_Niall's eyes popped wide open. "What? How?"_

_"Niall, how many straight guys wear flower crowns?" Liam laughed. He rubbed his friend's shoulder comfortingly._

_Smiling to himself, Niall leaned his head against Liam's hand on his shoulder. "S'pose you're right."_

_"Of course I'm right," Liam smirked, earning a flick in the ear._

 

"I stand by that statement, by the way," Liam commented when Niall finished.

Niall didn't give much of a reaction, which scared Liam more than he'd care to admit. "Li, it hurts," he whimpered.

Squeezing Niall's hand, Liam whispered, "I know."

The ambulance stopped and the back doors opened, Niall swiftly being transferred from the vehicle to a patient trolley. "We need to get him into emergency," the paramedic from the ambulance told the nurses. Pointing to Liam, she stated, "Make sure he stays with him."

So Liam found himself being dragged through the hospital and sat beside a bed, which Niall was transferred onto. He took Niall's hand again, more to steady himself than anything else.

"Liam, I don't wanna be here…" Niall's voice was shaking, his hand gripping Liam's tight enough to cut off the circulation.

"I know, Ni, but you need to let them look after you."

Niall shook his head. "I wanna go home. I wanna go home. I wanna go home…"

 

_"Niall?" Liam spoke up one evening as the two of them stared up at the night sky above them, lying on their backs on the grass with their hands behind their heads._

_"Hmm?"_

_"What happened to your dad?"_

_Niall flinched at the question._

_"You don't have to answer," Liam backtracked quickly. "I was-"_

_"No, it's okay." Niall took a deep breath. "Me and Mam were making dinner one night; spaghetti bolognese. Mam got a phone call telling us to go straight to the hospital. Dad… Dad had been on his way home from work when his brakes failed." Niall took a deep breath, feeling Liam wrap his arm around his shoulders. "Mam took me to the hospital and we went and saw Dad but he… he died that night. Mam had gone to talk to the nurses, but I was sitting with him. I was holding his hand when he died, Li."_

_Liam moved closer and wrapped his friend in a sideways hug. "At least he had you there," he whispered._

_Sniffling, Niall nodded. "I hate hospitals. I can't go near them, not after that." Blowing out a breath, he whispered, "Thanks for asking."_

_"Why?"_

_"It's nice to know it's not just me and Mam that know now." Resting his head on Liam's shoulder, Niall added, "I'm really gonna need you next week."_

_"Why's that?" Liam asked, rubbing Niall's shoulder._

_"Because on Thursday it'll've been three years."_

 

It was a while before the nurses finished cleaning and dressing Niall's wound, and when they did, Liam realised that, as the blonde had been rolled onto his uninjured side for access, his friend had moved quite close. So close, in fact, that Niall's face was buried in the side of Liam's stomach and his hands were gripping his shirt like his life depended on it. He also realised that he himself had moved, as he was now sitting on the bed. "Ni?" he murmured, rubbing Niall's shoulder. "How're you feeling?"

"Sleepy," Niall mumbled into Liam's shirt.

Liam glanced to the nurse, who nodded with a smile. "Niall, you're going to be perfectly fine. You can go to sleep now, just try not to put pressure on your side, okay?"

Niall nodded against Liam, who relayed the action to the nurse. "Thank you," Liam mouthed. He looked back down to Niall. "Here, get some sleep, Nialler." He gently lifted Niall out of his lap and laid him on the bed so his head was on the pillow, moving his lower body as little as possible.

"Don't go…" Niall started, panicky.

"Ssh, I'm not going," Liam assured him. "I promise. Get some sleep, though, 'kay?"

"'Kay," Niall whispered, quickly falling asleep.

Liam stood up and stretched, then leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Niall's cheek. Niall shuffled his head a little, but didn't wake. Walking around the bed a bit, Liam tried to regain the feeling in his legs.

"My god, where is he?" he heard a frantic voice ask. Peeking his head out from behind the curtain around the bed, Liam spotted the owner of the voice.

"Maura."

"Liam!" Maura hurried over to him, grasping his upper arms. "Liam, where is he? Is he okay?"

"He's just here," Liam told her, allowing Maura to step past the curtain.

Maura covered her mouth with both hands. "Oh, Niall…" she sobbed.

"He's okay," Liam assured her calmly, rubbing her upper arm. "He's just sleeping."

Maura closed her eyes and blew out a long breath, one hand coming up to steady herself with Liam's shoulder. "He's okay?" she whispered.

Liam nodded. "He's fine. A bit shaken, but he'll be alright."

Taking a few deep breaths, Maura turned to Liam fully. "The paramedic who called me said you've been with him the whole time."

"I was there when he… when it happened," Liam explained. "I was holding onto him and he didn't want me to let go. I wasn't gonna let go anyway, but he got really panicky so the paramedics said I could go with him."

Standing up in her toes, Maura pulled Liam into a tight hug. "Thank you," she sniffled. "Thank you, thank you, thank you…" Blowing out another breath, she whispered, "The last time the hospital called, I lost my husband. I couldn't lose Niall, I can't. He's all I've got left."

"I know," Liam murmured, patting Maura's back.

"Thank you for helping my baby."

"I couldn't've left him there if I tried," Liam half-laughed. He hugged Maura a little tighter. "It was a bit of a selfish act…" he admitted.

Maura pulled back and kissed Liam's cheek with a smile. "I know, sweetie." She rubbed Liam's head, ruffling his mohawk. "Still, thank you."

 

_"…the shocking school shooting yesterday. The shooter, Timothy Ellis, was arrested at the scene and faces a prison sentence of at least twenty five years. So far, there has been no news of casualties, but several students and a teacher have been hospitalised and are in a critical condition, while a handful of other students were lucky enough to escape just injured…"_

Flicking his tongue bar continuously against his lip ring, Liam turned away from the television. He knew that Niall was lucky this Timothy wasn't a very good shot, but no one deserved to be shot less than Niall. Niall was too sweet, too emotionally damaged for this kind of thing.

"Liam?"

Looking up at Maura, Liam gave her a half-smile. "Hey."

Maura sat on the empty hospital bed beside Liam. "Thank you so much, Liam. He hates hospitals, so thank you for convincing him to stay. And he really needed you, so thank you for staying with him."

Liam just nodded, tugging a little on one of the four sleepers in his right ear. "The shooter's gonna get twenty five years," he told her, nodding to the television. "He deserves to die."

"Hey now." Maura rubbed his back soothingly. "That wouldn't make you any better than him."

"I know."

They could hear a clicking sound coming closer, turning to the door to see Niall slowly hobbling into the room on crutches. "Time to go?"

"Definitely," Maura smiled, heading over to her son. She gently hugged him, receiving an earnest response. "I love you, sweetie."

"Love you, too, Mammy," Niall whispered.

"Let's go," Liam suggested, guiding mother and son down the hallway and out of the hospital.

"Oh, Liam, I called your dad to let him know you're safe," Maura informed him as Liam helped Niall into the back of her car. "He said he's very proud of you."

Liam mustered up a half-smile, sitting himself beside Niall.

"What's wrong?" Niall asked his friend as they started to head home, noticing Liam poking his tongue bar through his lip ring again; that sure sign of over-thinking.

"Just… this shouldn't've happened to you. It just… it shouldn't've."

It was a quite drive to the Horan's house, and Liam helped Niall out of the car while Maura went to unlock. Liam aided Niall upstairs to his bedroom, helping him onto the bed and propping him up with some pillows. "Movie?"

Niall sighed a little, but nodded. "I'm not gonna be able to go outside much 'til I'm healed."

"You'll be fine," Liam assured him, putting a random DVD into the player.

"Li." Niall made grabby hands at his friend, making him chuckle and sit on his uninjured side. He cuddled up to the brunette, who wrapped both arms around him. Both boys stared at the television screen, but neither of them were really watching. "Liam?"

"Mm?"

"Before the ambulance came… when we were in the corridor at school… you did kiss my forehead, right?"

Liam felt his stomach twist uncomfortably. "Yeah," he nodded, clearing his throat and not letting his eyes meet Niall's, which were watching him.

"And then again at the hospital? You kissed my cheek?"

Liam hoped his friend didn't notice how his arms tightened around him. "Yeah."

"Okay," Niall nodded. "Just… y'know, making sure." He nuzzled Liam's bicep before gently pressing a kiss there.

Finding a small well of confidence, Liam ducked his head and lightly kissed the junction between Niall's neck and shoulder. He turned his head a little, leaving slow kisses up Niall's neck and over his jaw while the blonde kissed whichever part of his face was closest. Liam stopped just as their lips were about to touch, meeting Niall's eyes with a silent question.

Realising what Liam was asking, Niall tilted his head up a tiny bit more.

Liam smiled and finally pressed their lips together, closing his eyes. Their kiss was inexperienced; shy and unsure. Liam brought one hand up to hold the back of Niall's head, prompting the blonde to wrap his arms around his neck. With his free hand, Liam found himself searching out Niall's hip, resting there and squeezing.

A whimper of pain left Niall's throat, Liam snatching his hand back and breaking their kiss. "Sore," Niall whispered, rubbing his wound just above his hip.

"My god, I'm sorry-"

"Ssh," Niall hushed, taking Liam's wrist and guiding his hand to rest against his lower ribs. "That's okay." Smiling a bit, he slid his arm back around Liam's neck and kissed him again.

"Boys, what would…?"

Parting quickly, both boys looked to the door to find Maura standing there looking surprised. "Ma-"

"Sorry for interrupting." Maura turned swiftly and headed away.

"Oh God…" Niall whispered.

Liam jumped up and hurried after his friend's mother. "Maura!" She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to watch him catch up. "I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to happen," Liam blurted out.

"I wasn't supposed to see?" Maura chuckled.

"No- well, that too, but I… I wasn't here to… I didn't come over to-"

"Liam, it's okay," Maura assured him. "Quite frankly, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner."

"What… what do you mean?" Liam asked in confusion.

With a smile, Maura told him, "I know my boy, and over time, I've come to know you, too. This has been coming for a very long time."

Liam lowered his gaze. "I just didn't want you to think I was taking advantage of the fact that he can't really get away," he said softly, nervously tugging on one of his ear-piercings.

"Liam, sweetheart, I know you wouldn't. Now, I'm sure Niall's missing his cuddle-buddy." Maura waved him back up the stairs, trying to hide her smile as she watched him hurry back to her son.

"Liam?" Niall asked worriedly as the brunette returned.

Sitting at Niall's feet, Liam blew out a breath, flicking his tongue bar against his teeth a few times. "You know what she said?"

Niall shook his head, becoming more and more anxious.

"She said she'd seen it coming." Liam sent his friend a small smile and patted his foot. "She's fine with… with whatever this is. Whatever it becomes."

Niall reached for Liam. "C'mere." Once he had Liam sitting beside him again, he pulled him down into another kiss. "If you think I'm gonna stop doing that anytime soon, you've got another thing coming," he mumbled, pressing their lips together again.

"Right, duly noted," Liam chuckled, stealing a quick kiss. "When we go back to school, I hope you realise I'm gonna be walking you to all your classes to make sure you actually get there."

Grinning, Niall whispered, "Good. That way I can kiss you goodbye."

Liam paused. "Is that what we'll be? The ones that kiss each other goodbye before classes and meet up every lunchtime?"

"Can we be the _couple_ that kisses before class and meets up at lunch?" Niall asked, biting his lip.

A smile spreading across his face, Liam leaned in and gave Niall a soft kiss on the lips. "We sure can."

 

"This is a difficult time for us all." The school body was gathered in the assembly hall, all sitting quietly as the principal regretfully began her speech. "Many of us have lost someone dear to us, and some of us have lost family. While we all sit here, safe in the knowledge that Timothy Ellis has been locked away from society, we are still suffering the consequences of his actions. Most of us are suffering emotionally, but others physically from injuries Ellis inflicted." She looked around at her students, noticing many bandages. "We will now hear a few words from Ellis' final victim, Niall Horan, and his… friend, Liam Payne."

As the principal stepped aside, Liam helped Niall limp over to the lectern. Giving Liam a nervous glance, Niall swallowed and began to speak. "As Mrs Chambers said, I was the last person to be affected by Timothy Ellis' visit to our school. I was there when he was arrested, but I really don't remember it. All I remember is… is lying on the floor in so much pain that I couldn't feel anything else."

Liam wrapped his arm around Niall's middle as support.

"It was like… there was a 'bang', then the only thing I was aware of was this burning, aching, stinging pain in my side. It took me a minute before I worked out I had even hit the floor." Niall blew out a breath, uncomfortable with reliving this moment. "People have been telling me I was lucky, but they're wrong. 'Lucky' wouldn't have got me permanent damage to the muscles in my right side.

"Now Liam; Liam was lucky. He wasn't physically injured by Ellis at all. But that doesn't mean he had it easy, either. I think all of us, even the 'lucky' ones, have had to hold ourselves together for the sake of friends and family. Just like Liam sat with me while we waited for help, many of you would have done the same with your friends or siblings.

"But I don't think any of us were really lucky. We lost friends, family, even a teacher. If we were lucky, all those people would still be here, and we'd be in class right now instead of talking about the horror we went through." Niall's voice was beginning to shake and Liam touched his shoulder to check if he was okay. The blonde nodded once. "We now have a…" He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I can't do it," he whispered to Liam.

Hugging his boyfriend quickly, Liam took over. "We now have a list of those we've lost, then a minute's silence to remember them as a sign of respect.

"Raymond Travis. Alecia Carmichael. Mitchell Fitzallen. Penelope Fisher. Fredrick Mason. Belinda Hoffman. Andrew Williams. Lois Reynolds…"

The list seemed to go on forever, which obviously became more and more distressing to the school.

"And Mr Ray McIntosh, teacher of year eight and nine mathematics," Liam concluded, thankful that he didn't have to inflict any more pain. "A minute of silence for our loss of these people."

Once the painfully slow minute had ticked by, Liam guided Niall off to the side and wrapped him in a hug while their principal readdressed the school.

"Thank you to Niall and Liam. They had a difficult job." She sent them a thankful look. "I understand that school life will take a while to adjust to the events of three weeks ago, so please allow everyone to grieve in their own ways. Cooperation between students and staff would be even more appreciated now than ever. And remember; although we have lost, we will not forget. Thank you, school."

 

Niall sat on the bar as he watched Liam wiping down tables for his father. He was keeping his eyes on his work, moving swiftly from one table to another.

"Is he coping okay?" asked a voice behind Niall.

Glancing behind him at Liam's father, Niall shrugged his shoulder a little. "It's not the people that we lost that bothers him," Niall explained quietly. "It's the fact that we're both being called in as witnesses at the shooter's appeal trial."

Geoff, Liam's father, nodded twice. "Figured that was it."

"It sucks," Niall whispered, staring down at his gently-kicking feet.

"He hasn't been ignoring you, has he?" Geoff asked.

"Nah," Niall half-laughed. "He's just so stressed."

Geoff nodded, wiping glasses and stacking them behind the bar. "His mum's been worrying about him. He's been really quiet recently."

"Stress," Niall confirmed.

"Can you give him a talking-to?" Geoff asked, finishing with his glass-stacking.

Shrugging a little, Niall replied, "I can try. He might not want to talk about it, though."

"Just do your best, yeah?"

Niall nodded.

"Thanks, buddy," Geoff smiled. "Now, bum off bar, c'mon."

Chuckling a little, Niall carefully lowered himself to the ground, allowing Geoff to wipe the bar down. He headed over to Liam, who was just standing staring out the window. "Li?" Wrapping his arms around Liam's middle, Niall suggested, "Let's go, yeah?"

Liam sighed and nodded, turning and wrapping Niall up in a hug. They stayed like that for a long while, just holding each other.

Pressing a kiss to Liam's collarbone, Niall whispered, "Are we going, then?"

"Yeah," Liam chuckled, giving Niall a small smile. As they walked hand in hand out of the bar and in the direction of Liam's home, the older boy sighed, "Thank you."

"What for?" Niall laughed slightly, swinging their hands.

"Putting up with me being all mopey and quiet," Liam explained, squeezing Niall's hand. "I know I'm not being a great boyfriend right now but…" He gave a heavy sigh. "It's only been a month. How can they even think about letting him go?"

"I don't know," Niall replied honestly. "But he's not going anywhere; there's no way they'll let him out. If they do, the community will cause such a fuss that they'll have no choice but to take him away."

Liam just nodded, leading Niall up the path to his home. Unlocking the front door, Liam let Niall in. "Thanks for calming me down," he half-smiled as he kicked his shoes off.

"No worries." Niall gently tugged on Liam's arm, taking him out into the back garden. "It's so nice being outside again," Niall sighed, laying himself on the grass and gazing up at the sky.

Liam laid beside him, pressing their sides close together. "It is," he agreed, finding Niall's hand and intertwining their fingers. "It makes you so happy," he smiled.

"Hush, you," Niall scowled playfully.

"It's really cute," Liam assured him, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "But you're just cute in general, so that's nothing new."

"Liam," Niall whined, his face turning pink.

Liam chuckled and brought his free hand over to stroke Niall's cheek. "It's a good thing, babe, trust me."

Moving Liam's hand, Niall turned his boyfriend's arm over and started tracing his tattoos with his fingertip. "So many," he murmured as his finger dipped around the curve of Liam's elbow.

"I like them," Liam shrugged, smiling as Niall continued to trace his tattoos.

"They're very distinguishing," Niall commented. "No one has tattoos like yours."

"That's the point," Liam chuckled.

Niall simply nodded, fascinated by the ink on his boyfriend's skin. He moved his fingers to the few tattoos visible above the neckline of Liam's shirt.

"Maybe we should take this inside…" Liam suggested, raising an eyebrow at Niall.

"Nah, I'm good," Niall smiled, pressing a kiss to Liam's collarbone before tucking his hand under his head and returning his attention to the sky.

"Right…" Shaking his head fondly, Liam leaned his cheek against the top of Niall's head, kissing his hair. "Dork."

"Punk," Niall retorted.

"Hippie."

"Thug."

"Oo, really hitting the stereotypes now, aren't we?" Liam laughed, squeezing Niall's hand.

"You started it."

"Did not."

"Did too."

Before Liam could respond, his mother called out to them from the house. "Boys, dinner!"

Niall grinned triumphantly, Liam pouting but allowing his boyfriend his win. "Come on," Niall giggled, climbing to his feet and heading inside.

 

Liam couldn't stop smiling through dinner. For the first time, he really noticed just how well his mother got along with Niall. His dad came home halfway through, and again Liam really watched how he interacted with the blonde boy sitting beside him.

When Liam took Niall upstairs afterwards, he pushed his bedroom door shut and pulled his boyfriend close. "I love you."

Niall blinked in surprise for a moment. "That was sudden," he laughed breathlessly.

"You just fit into my family so well," Liam smiled, kissing Niall's forehead. "It's so lovely to watch you talking and laughing with my parents."

"Okay…" Niall shook his head fondly, kissing Liam's nose. "I could say the same about you with Ma. She makes no secret that she loves it when you come 'round." His mobile suddenly buzzed in his pocket. "Speak of the devil," he chuckled when he checked the screen, opening the text message his mother had sent him.

_'Where are you? - Mam'_

_'At Liam's - Niall'_

_'Good, I thought so. Are you coming back tonight? - Mam'_

_'I don't think so. Bit dark - Niall'_

_'Okay, goodnight love. Stay safe ;) - Mam'_

_'Night mam - Niall'_

"Stay safe?" Liam asked, reading over Niall's shoulder.

Niall blushed and shoved his phone in his pocket. "She's being rude."

Scooping Niall up off the floor and carrying him over to his bed, Liam laughed at the squeak of surprise he earned himself. "I don't know that she was being RUDE exactly," he chucked, laying Niall on his back and hovering over him. "'Cheeky' is probably a better word."

"No, I think 'cheeky' is the word for what you just did," Niall corrected, looking up at Liam with a raised eyebrow. "What now, hmm?"

"Well, now I do this." Liam leaned down and kissed Niall's neck. "Then this." He pressed a kiss to Niall's jaw. "And this." Joining their lips, Liam hummed happily.

"I think I can live with that," Niall chuckled, kissing him again.


End file.
